Fairies Leave Ulster (Co. Derry)

An old man in Ballinascreen told me that the fairies left Ulster in the year 1852. He had heard all about it from a woman at Straw. She was on friendly terms with the local fairies and they told her that they had to fight a battle with the Connaught host. They did not know when the battle would take place, but if they were defeated she would know because the stream would run red the day after the fight. One morning, after a night of terrible commotion in the air, the stream was red, and no more fairies were seen in Ulster. (Foster, Ulster, 80-81)